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Month Archives: May 2016

by
Daniel Hart

May 16, 2016

Question: I want to effectively protest the killing/genocide of Christians around the world. How do you suggest I do that? Thank you.

FRC: Thank you for asking how you can protest the genocide of Christians around the world. While believers face growing hostility in America, we have experienced nothing like the mistreatment, displacement, violence, rape, crucifixions, and beheadings experienced by followers of Jesus in Iraq, Syria, Libya, other parts of the Middle East and beyond. The most tangible form of helping persecuted Christians is to participate in practical ministries. If possible, you might consider following the example of a church in Indiana who sent a group of church members to Iraq along with donated medical supplies and additional money to purchase much needed food and bedding. Obviously, most churches would not be capable of this kind of direct aid, so we primarily recommend donating to the organizations listed on World Magazine’s “Aid for Iraqis” site. These organizations have provided aid to those in need ever since the beginning of the conflict, and through this lasting presence in the region have intimately gotten to know the communities they are involved with. It is also very important to promote policies that protect the persecuted. You can help do this by supporting the ministries that we have partnered with like Open Doors USA, Institute on Religion and Democracy, and others listed here. Finally, please pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world. Thank you for standing with us!

by
Travis Weber

May 12, 2016

Before same-sex marriage was constitutionally enshrined, we heard about how it would not affect anyone’s religious freedom. It was just about access to the marriage license, we were told.

Anyone who thinks opponents of Christian morality are not interested in forcing everyone to conform to their views need only glance at a motion filed in federal court in Mississippi reacting to a law which provides, of all things, exemptions on conscience grounds.

In their motion, this group of opponents asks the court to make sure that anyone “recusing himself or herself under Section 3(8) of HB 1523” be forced to “desist from issuing any marriage licenses to any other couples, including opposite-sex couples.”

Why make this request if access is the only issue? No access to any licenses has been impeded. But we know it is not about that. These opponents are requesting clerks not issue any licenses because they just can’t stand the idea that someone would not agree with their same-sex marriage.

The opponents proceed to read into motives and offer blanket generalizations:

“Thus, although the most recent efforts by the State of Mississippi to disregard the constitutional rights of LGBT Mississippians through HB 1523 may be somewhat more subtle than the “steel-hard, inflexible, undeviating official policy” of the past, see United States v. City of Jackson, Miss., 318 F.2d 1, 5 (5th Cir. 1963) (ordering end of racial segregation in bus and railway terminals), the underlying impulse is exactly the same.” (emphasis mine)

They also mischaracterize the law as “exhorting state residents to discriminate against their gay, lesbian and transgender neighbors in a wide variety of circumstances.” Where is this behavior “exhorted?”

They also want the state to be forced to “post all recusal notices to a prominent place” on a government website. Shaming, anyone?

The real motive is obvious. It’s to force those who now disagree to eventually agree. Nothing more (for now), and nothing less.

by
Rob Schwarzwalder

May 12, 2016

Dear Friends,

Writing last year in The Public Discourse, attorney Jeff Ventrella of the Alliance Defending Freedom described what he termed “the prevailing orthodoxy that bans dissent from or disapproval of total sexual autonomy.”

We are witnessing that essentially fascistic approach to law and policy — the banning of dissent — in our time, even this week, as the Obama Administration seeks to crush the government of North Carolina’s efforts to preserve privacy and security in public bathrooms, changing rooms, and showers.

FRC is standing with Governor Pat McCrory, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, and the leaders of North Carolina’s legislature as they refuse to surrender to President Obama’s vision of a redefined human sexuality. As FRC President Tony Perkins has said, “If the White House can dictate the bathroom policies of America, what could possibly be beyond their reach?”

The federal government is a servant, not a master. Americans are citizens, not subjects. The Tenth Amendment, reserving to the states those things not specifically assigned by the Constitution to the federal government, remains in force.

Those are the principles upon which conscientious men and women have always stood in our country. To abandon them is to abandon liberty. And to abandon liberty is to abandon America.

May God give us the grace and strength never to accede to such a sordid, tragic betrayal of our historic commitment to and movement toward liberty and justice for all.

Sincerely,

Rob SchwarzwalderSenior Vice-PresidentFamily Research Council

P.S. This is an “FRC-only” version of the SoCon Review. Watch for the next full edition the week of May 23rd.

Lectures and Events

The Genocide Resolution: Responding to ISIS and Threats to International Religious Liberty — U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), April 28. Before Secretary of State John Kerry designated ISIS’ ongoing brutality against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East as genocide, a resolution calling for that action passed the House 393-0. The rare bipartisan support for this move reflects the universal desire in Congress to see the Obama administration act to end ISIS’ atrocities. This historic effort was spearheaded by Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East.

They Say We Are Infidels: On the run from ISIS with persecuted Christians in the Middle East— Mindy Belz, Editor, WORLD Magazine, May 3. For the past decade, journalist Mindy Belz has returned again and again to the Middle East, following Iraqi Christians fleeing from rape, murder, kidnapping, and suicide bombing. Belz brings the stark reality of this escalating genocide to light, sharing the stories of real-life Christians who refuse to abandon their faith — together with the hope that still lives, even in the face of terror. The title of her lecture is also the title of a new book she has written on the topic.

National Day of Prayer Webcast, May 5. Dr. Tony Evans and other leaders from the National Day of Prayer Task Force spoke about the theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer, “Wake Up America,” based upon Isaiah 58:1A NIV: “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.” Dr. Evans, Honorary Chairman for the 2016 National Day of Prayer, is the long-time pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas and his timely, biblical messages can be heard daily on “The Urban Alternative” radio program.

by
Daniel Hart

May 9, 2016

With every passing day, it seems, Christian values are increasingly being pushed out of the public square and out of public policy. What can ordinary Christian citizens do to make their voices heard in their day to day lives and in Washington? FRC is here to help. Every Monday starting today here on the FRC Blog, we will publish a Question of the Week that we receive, along with our answer.

Feel free to send us a question you may have about how you can better live out your faith beyond the four walls of your church, or about any specific value that FRC continues to stand for, whether it be life, marriage and family, or religious liberty. Go to frc.org/contact-frc and enter “Question of the Week” in the Subject line. Thank you for standing with us!

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Question:FRC seems to be good at getting information out. This is great, but I feel helpless in the grand scheme of things. There is so much discussion and it does not seem to get us anywhere. How can we stand up for ourselves together as a Christian family, in a respectable Christian manner? It’s the first time in my life that I am sometimes afraid to wear my cross. I do it anyway, because I am very strong in my faith and I love Jesus, but I do feel a bit uneasy at times. Thank you for your time.

FRC: We’re encouraged by your desire to glorify God in the public square. As God’s stewards on earth whose entire purpose for living is to give all glory, honor, and praise to Him in every sphere of life, God has called many of us to work for Him in the public square—some of us in Washington, D.C., others at the state level, and still others at the local level. Thank you for realizing the importance of Christians being active members of society who are willing to promote biblical family values to our government officials. First, do your civic duty by voting according to your Christian conscience. In addition, you can write emails or make calls to public officials at the local, state, and federal levels, and encourage neighbors, friends, and co-workers to do the same. (You can do this by signing up for our Alerts here.) For more information on how you can get involved in the public square, please go to the volunteer page on our website at frc.org/volunteer. Please also ask your pastor if he would like to join our pastors network at watchmenpastors.org, and consider creating a Culture Impact Team at your church: cultureimpact.org. Please continue to pray for our nation and its leaders. This is the most influential action we can take: may God’s will be done. God’s Word is a source of great comfort and hope. Proverbs 21:30-31 says, “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” Thanks again for your desire to help us transform our culture for God’s glory. May He bless you.